Eight weeks after the quarter-final defeat by England and the end of the European Championship, the German national soccer team met in Stuttgart to restart. In the capital of Baden-Württemberg, the DFB team is preparing for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. National coach Joachim Löw is history. “It was kind of weird not to find him here anymore,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) during a press conference at the Waldhotel in Stuttgart. Löw’s successor, Hansi Flick, the former Bayern coach, is anything but a strange face for the captain. Neuer has 104 international matches under his belt – and has been part of the national team for twelve years, but Hansi Flick is only his second head coach there.
In the afternoon, Flick led his first training session as a national coach in the ADM sports park on the Waldau. There will be more practice units in the coming days before the compulsory task against Liechtenstein in St. Gallen, Switzerland, is due on Thursday (8.45 p.m. / RTL). Next Sunday (8.45 p.m. / RTL), the DFB-Elf will receive the national team of Armenia in the Mercedes-Benz-Arena in Stuttgart, before the away game on Wednesday, September 8th (8.45 p.m. / RTL) in Iceland, the World Cup qualification Triple pack is completed.
Captain Manuel Neuer wanted to have recognized a certain optimism in the DFB team shortly after his arrival in Stuttgart. Team mate Thomas Müller even felt a “certain euphoria”. The two Bayern stars made it clear: After the tournament bankruptcies at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the EM this year, things should finally go uphill again. Captain Neuer said bluntly and rather boldly: “I want to become world champion with the team as much as possible.”
The World Cup finals will take place in Qatar at the end of 2022. However, the German team must first qualify for this. She is currently only third in Group J. And only the first receives a direct ticket for the World Cup in the desert state. The Flick-Elf should win the upcoming three qualifying games in order to preserve the chance of winning the group.
The national coach watched VfB’s Bundesliga game against SC Freiburg on Saturday. Before the arrival of the national team in Stuttgart, he was combative, saying: “I want to see life on the pitch.”
Flick’s captain Neuer knows that he and his colleagues have an obligation to ensure that the team could not regain the credit that was lost in previous years, even at the European Championships. “We know we have a little to make up for,” the goalkeeper admitted. Together they want to kindle a new fire and reconcile the fans with the national team. Yes, even more: “The enthusiasm of the players should spill over into the living rooms and stadiums,” said the regular goalkeeper.
Italy is the newer role model. The Squadra Azzurra became European champions with a lot of heart and passion. “To be honest: It was fun to watch the Italians. This is how it has to be for us too, they showed us how to do it. “
That looks similar to Flick’s assistant Danny Röhl. In the training sessions before the Liechtenstein game, the main focus is on “speed, intensity and activity”, said the 32-year-old Saxon, with whom Flick has already worked at FC Bayern – and who, as is well known, has celebrated many successes there.
First training with rump squad
Hansi Flick was only able to welcome one rump squad in his first session as the new national coach. With Joachim Löw’s successor, only 16 of the 26 nominated national soccer players stood on the rain-soaked lawn in Stuttgart’s ADM-Sportpark on Monday afternoon.
Flick would have initially only 14 field players and goalkeepers Bernd Leno and Kevin Trapp are available. The other ten professionals around captain Manuel Neuer were still on a regeneration session at the Waldhotel after their clubs had missed out on the weekend. dpa
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